David Hughes is the Daily Telegraph's chief leader writer. He has been covering British politics for 30 years.

MPs' expenses: Number 10's weasel words

Words don't come much more weaselly than this humdinger from Number 10 this morning. "To the best of our knowledge" said the Downing Street spokesman, ministers named in the Daily Telegraph "appear to have honoured their tax liabilities".

If there wasn't enough wiggle room there, the spokesman added just for good measure: "We are in the process of checking whether ministers… are paying the tax that is due."

As briefings go, this is worse than useless. We are about to enter the third week of revelations about the way some MPs and ministers have milked the expenses and allowances system. Throughout that period, the tax implications of benefits in kind have been a big part of the unfolding story.

You'd have thought that the sophisticated Downing Street propaganda machine would have had all the relevant facts and arguments at its finger-tips.

Apparently not. Translated into simple English, this morning's statement reads: "We haven't got a clue what's going on but we are trying to find out." Shambolic.